The Tyrant’s Show
The Truman Show (1998) is not only a comedy-drama film but a horrific reality experienced by many.
Summary: Truman Burbank is the star of The Truman Show, a 24-hour-a-day reality TV show broadcasts every aspect of his life without his knowledge. His entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows, including his wife and best friend, is an actor, paid to be part of his life. (Letterboxd)
We accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented.
That is Christof’s answer when he was asked how Truman has not questioned his reality for over 30 years. It makes perfect sense — do we even question the reality we are in most of the time? We are often too caught up coping with the highly difficult daily realities to even ponder about such things.
People, more often than not, just surrender to the existing conditions of society without much critical thought, brushing it over as “that’s just the way things are.”
Moreso if the situation favors you. The movie did not have us watch the whole 30 years of Truman’s life, but we did know that the show covered everything from his birth to his adulthood. From what can be seen in the movie, Truman pretty much had a relatively nice ‘life.’
Aside from the instinct to just accept reality, Christof created The Truman Show’s world to cater to Truman and have him love his life inside the man-made ‘paradise’. So for three decades, there was no reason for Truman to question the world he was in.
The people around Truman contributed a lot to perfecting the show’s fake reality. When Truman was doubting everything in his life and starting to connect the dots, he confided in his ‘best friend’ Marlon. Marlon then comforted him and said everything anyone in Truman’s position would like to hear: It’s all true. It’s all real. Nothing here is fake. He gave the assurance that might calm down Truman’s chaotic mind, just as according to the script.
It’s sick. It’s twisted. It’s horrifying.
Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998) is tagged as a comedy-drama, but it should also be labeled as a horror film. Imagine being watched by millions of people throughout your life without any idea about it. Every aspect of your life, every nook and cranny of your body, every footstep — it’s all shown on people’s screens as a form of entertainment. The movie took the quote “you are the main character in your life” to a disturbing level.
Aside from being observed all the time, every single thing in Truman’s life is controlled. The weather, the climate, the interactions, the brands he used, and even the road traffic is rehearsed. Nothing in Seahaven — Truman’s ‘hometown’ — is not orchestrated to manipulate actions and events.
The hawk-eyed focus and the strict control over Truman’s life are terrifying to imagine happening in reality. Unfortunately, it is not a distant reality for Filipinos.
Philippines: Season 1972, 14 Episodes
That was the beginning of The Tyrant’s Show in the Philippines. The shameless Creator, Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, ran the horror exhibit for 14 years, all the while stealing from the people, killing the masses, and destroying the country.
The terrible dictator exhausted the military’s power to create his Seahaven full of silenced people, bloodstained buildings, and fear-stricken streets.
Christof to The Truman’s Show is Marcos Sr. to the Philippines. They built their twisted idea of a world and forced people to live with it, brainwashing them into thinking that they are doing what is best for the people. Through the well-crafted Seahaven, Truman did not dare explore outside his hometown in the belief that there is nothing outside it.
Through the intricate web of lies and a false sense of contentment, Filipinos closed their eyes to the harsh conditions during the martial law era, believing that the government is doing what they were supposed to do.
From school lessons to TV advertisements, Truman’s world was rigged with reminders that the sea was scary. The constant warning not to cross the waters and that there was nothing to explore outside their city kept Truman in Seahaven. Since childhood, he was conditioned to think within the city’s premises, like it was the lone island in the world. His parents, teachers, friends — everyone confined him inside the restraints of the makeshift reality.
In awful similarity, the Filipinos experienced the same throughout the Martial Law years. The first thing that the era killed was the country’s press freedom by enforcing a media blackout and takeover. Marcos Sr. knew that the media was the government watchdog, ready to report any shady behavior committed by his administration.
By censoring the media, he suppressed public criticism, controlled people’s access to information, and aired his twisted truth. With the mass media shut down, the people were kept in the dark about the government’s crimes against society.
One way or another, someone will get bothered by their conscience. To Christof’s dismay, Lauren Garland couldn’t turn a blind eye to Truman’s situation and speak up about his life being broadcasted on television. And because the show has to go on, Christof kicked Laura out of the show and left Truman confused about reality.
The Filipino people’s Laura Garland was the brave journalists and activists who fought against unjust rule during martial law. What happened to Laura’s character happened to these courageous people but in a severe manner. Journalists and media owners were arrested without due process to prevent them from airing accurate news. Activists were jailed, tortured, raped, and killed.
Whoever tried to expose the atrocities of the government faced eternal silence.
For Christof and Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the corrupted worlds they made where people were controlled and disillusioned were the perfect version of reality. Both greedy and devious, these dictators fooled the people into thinking that the truth they presented was the only one to believe in. They manipulated the concepts of freedom and reality in people’s minds to achieve their selfish goals.
The Conclusion
Despite the wicked ways used to stop him from escaping, Truman sailed the sea and escaped. A heavy thud shook his whole being when his boat hit a wall painted to look like the sky. He knew it was finally the end of the world — the end of his suffering.
But was it, really?
The 1986 revolution successfully ousted Ferdinand Marcos. The triumph went by many names: EDSA Revolution, People Power Revolution, February Revolution. It marked the country’s freedom from the vicious dictator who silenced, killed, and stole from the people. From 22 to 25 February 1986, the Filipinos reclaimed the power that was rightfully theirs.
But did they, really?
You can’t get any further away before you start coming back.
Truman was stuck in an endless loop of a fake reality. Finally going out to the real world must be an ultimate dream for someone who has been kept inside a box his whole life. But however great his escape was, he’s entering our world which isn’t any better. He’s probably expecting he’ll finally gain control over his life and future, only to be disappointed by a capitalistic, prejudiced society.
Isn’t that exactly what happened in our country? After the 1986 revolution, we rejoiced in the regaining of freedom and hoped for a better future ahead of us — only to be disheartened by our current reality. Celebrating Independence Day seemed meaningless as thirty-six painstaking years of keeping the Marcoses away from the seat of power went down the drain after the 2022 elections.
Filipinos have handed them the highest position on a silver platter yet again. Not willingly, for sure, but still did. It was not entirely our fault due to the historical revisionism and lack of proper education, but it is not a secret that a part of the population has contributed to the win of bloody red and disgusting green.
In the end, was Truman really able to escape from the shackles of a restrained life? Did the Filipinos really succeed in taking back the people’s power from the rapacious crocodiles seating inside the Palace?
We can only hope as we dive into a new season of The Tyrant’s Show, directed by Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late dictator and incumbent president of the Philippines.
